


Keeping safe

by Gondolin



Series: Keep [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blanket Permission, Canon-Typical Violence, Kaminoans being Kaminoans, M/M, Podfic Welcome, Post-Episode: s02e05 Landing at Point Rain, Protective Obi-Wan Kenobi, happy-ish, no one dies but it's an open ending, potential fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 02:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gondolin/pseuds/Gondolin
Summary: When Cody is wounded in battle, Obi-Wan finds he has to make some tough choices.[you don’t need to have read the previous part in the serie]





	Keeping safe

**Author's Note:**

> This is canon divergence from the beginning of Landing at Point Rain.
> 
> You don’t need to have read the previous part in the series, just know that Cody and Obi-Wan are married. The first part has a completely different style, it’s all fluff.

They banter as usual before the battle. Obi-Wan will find himself remembering that silly conversation with bitter fondness in the months to come. Cody's face is already hidden inside his bucket, but his tone is one of dry amusement and affection. It's not his Commander voice just yet.

"Last time I was there, I was tied to a pole," Obi-Wan quips, trying to make light of painful memories.

"Sounds entertaining," Cody says in a way that conveys exactly just how much he is rolling his eyes at his General.

"Oh, it was. For the Genoshans."

Obi-Wan thinks that he loves Cody, and it's not a new or a strange thought, but one he'll come back to often in times to come. He loves him like he always does before battle, he loves him without saying it and hoping they will both see the end of the day.

 

  
Obi-Wan knows he can’t hate a planet. Even ignoring more serious concerns about hatred and the Dark Side, it's just plain ridiculous. The sand and rocks can't be held responsible for his losses. Yet they have been witnesses to the end of peace and to the reveal of Dooku's treachery. Dooku had been one of them, and closer to Obi-Wan by lineage than to any other except Yoda. Though ashamed at the pettiness of the thought, Obi-Wan takes it personally. Having a Sith kidnap you and then try to turn you to the Dark Side after your own Master died battling a Sith might do that to you.

But what really tips the scale from dislike to hatred is something else.

Obi-Wan himself is wounded and is only holding himself up because he's standing with his back against a stack of crates. He can still protect his men and he will do just that, even if he has to keep fighting on his knees. Reinforcements are on their way. They just need to hold their position. He yells as much over the roar of battle.

"We don't want to leave all the fun to the 501st, do we?" he jokes, because that's the only way he can make his voice sound normal. If the end of the sentence trails of in a chocked sound of pain rather than a laugh, few are close enough to notice.

But then he sees familiar armor markings caught smack in the middle of a heavy rain of artillery - and when he doesn't see them anymore, nothing manages to stop the howl of pain that escapes him.

He barely even saw Cody go down. The dust clears enough to show bodies on the ground. Obi-Wan staggers forward, pulled in too many directions at once. He needs to be a General first now. He needs to make sure his flanks are still in position.

He needs to feel if Cody is still alive.

He has an approaching enemy line to deal with, and the smoking ruins of their gunships behind them.

He needs to feel if Cody is still alive.

He needs.

He takes a breath, focus sharp on the incoming barrage of fire. He treats it like training, like moving meditation. He is the ground and the metal, he is every blast of laser, he is the battlefield and his men. The Force flows through him and out - and so does the blood oozing out too quickly from his wounds. It flows until he can feel each detail as it happens and time slows down. Every drop of spilled blood, be it friend or foe, hurts him like a blow, every life disappearing is pain howling in the Force. But he can also sense strength, determination. And further, lives hanging on by a thread, but lives nevertheless. Cody and three of the men beside him are dampening the sand with their blood, but still - barely - alive.

 

  
Obi-Wan flat out refuses to be evacuated first. By now everyone expects the General to stubbornly refuse medical care until everything is under control, and to protest even then. But this time not even Anakin insists; instead he smoothly takes over and orders the medic to get Commander Cody on the gunship "right this instant or so help me, I will send you to clean water filters on Kamino," all this while holding most of Obi-Wan's weight, one arm around his waist to keep him upright.

When the stretcher passes them, Obi-Wan's fingers brush against it, without touching Cody and he can feel Anakin feeling his anguish. In that moment, they understand each other perfectly.

 

  
Cody's lips are so dry they split and bleed when he talks, but he smiles anyway.

"I had a dream you came for me. Raised all sorts of hell on Kamino," he croaks out.

"Not a dream," Obi-Wan whispers reverently, slowly running his fingers through Cody's hair. He holds out a glass of water with a straw and gets Cody to take a few small sips.

"How long was I out for?"

"Six standard months," Obi-Wan admits, without trying to sweeten the pill.

"Six... We don't...," he knows the longnecks have a have strict policy on how much time they can waste on keeping clones in suspended animation, and six months is much longer than that, "You really did come for me."

"I would never have let them do it."

It's then that Cody notices what's truly odd about the situation. Obi-Wan is wearing a GAR uniform rather than his usual robes. A sneaking suspicion makes its way in his mind through the haze. He's always been quick.

"Wat did you do?"

Obi-Wan looks him straight on, doesn't hesitate or look ashamed even for a moment. "I showed them our marriage license. It means I'm your next of kin, and have last word concerning medical decisions if you're not conscious."

If he had the energy for it, Cody would probably yell at his stupid husband. As it is, he opens his mouth to reprimand him, and starts crying instead.

Kark, he must be on some really good cocktail of meds. That's his justification and he's sticking to it.

"You... You... Is that why you're... Wearing...?" he chokes out.

Obi-Wan looks pained, like he wants to offer comfort but doesn't quite know how. He holds his hand and scoots his chair closer.

"I'm no longer a Jedi, if that's what you're asking."

"You shouldn't have. It's... It's too big a sacrifice." 

"For your life? It was a small price. And it was my price to pay. My choice."

Cody is still overwhelmed. He's not quite sure this is reality.

But then Obi-Wan's hand squeezes his and he knows everything is true. He is alive. This is the first day of the rest of his life.


End file.
